The value our society has placed upon success in athletics has led to the development of many sports training tools. The desire for individualized, portable home training devices has inspired several inventions whose costs and ineffectiveness have caused a proliferation of backyard experimental devices to appear. Of the current inventions, some are narrowly focussed on one specific sports skill. Examples of these devices are Russo, et al, Batting Practice Device, U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,733, which is aimed at increasing a batters strengths and skills; Bay and Del Marco, U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,267, Collapsible Frame With Hanging Net Ball Arresting Apparatus, a ball stopping device which has a taut net using frame movement to absorb projectile energy; and Booth and Ingle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,326, which represents a movable target and a net stop for baseball pitching practice.
Major limitations of these devices and others is their focus on one specific sport skill, which is evidenced by the aperture size and function of their catch nets. They also do not have any integrally related attachments that would enhance their devices' effectiveness and reduce the users' costs. Of the above devices that profess portability, their need for wheels indicates a major limitation upon their ease of handling. These problems have been partially solved by Rodriguez, et al, U.S. Pat No. 4,533,138, Multiple Sport Training Device, which focuses on several different sports skills. But it still does not meet the simplistic needs of the individual consumer. This '138 patent is to a small degree multiple sport capable, yet because of a preponderance of parts and adjustments it does not adequately address the needs of any one sport. This design, and others in the field, are portable only in the respect that they can be moved. The necessity for wheels to render a device mobile speaks of an awkward weight that would cause handling problems for young adults. The costs associated with patent '138 and its multitude of attachments points it away from the individual home environment and toward institutional use. The small aperture opening for its receiving net limits the success of the device to receive a ball.